The Situationship

You make me glow (But I cover up, won't let it show)

Over the years of 'almost relationships,' Marinette had never quite reached the 'meet-the-parents' stage. The closest she'd ever come was with Luka and their on-again, off-again dates at the bakery, or their casual drop-ins for tea and cake. But having Adrien here, sitting down for a meal on a random Tuesday night, it felt almost like she was presenting him as a worthy suitor.

"Adrien, my boy, how's the car? I told Sabine all about it; it's like a dream come true for Bond fans." Tom's eyes glistened as he mentioned the famed Aston Martin. It's no surprise to anyone how much her father liked the secret agent. You only had to hear him talking to Miss Moneypenny (the oven) to agree.

"I didn't take you for a Daniel Craig fan, Mr. D."

"I'm more of a Pierce Brosnan one myself, but I can't deny Craig was a good Bond."

"Maybe I can take you for a spin sometime?"

Marinette sat in silence, absently playing with the cake on her plate as Adrien and her father seemed to be developing some sort of bromance. Her head kept turning back and forth between the two men as they chatted like old friends. She hadn't realised they knew each other this well, she thought Adrien had just dropped in a couple of times in the past, not that her father had already got his name engraved ready for the family tree–and at this point she didn't even know if she was joking.

Her father had gone above and beyond, creating everything from heart-shaped macarons to a soufflé fit for a king — far more elegant than her and Adrien's attempt to fix Gammy's cake.

The rest of the family weekend had been quite eventful. Chloé had spent most of the time asleep on a sun lounger, only engaging with Marinette when she wanted to talk designs. But everyone else had been quite lively.

After the initial coolness from Kagami, Marinette had grown quite fond of the girl, finding that they got along really well. A similar thing had happened with Félix, though she couldn't shake the feeling that there was something more there, as if he were hiding something important.

The biggest surprise, however, came in the form of Gabriel Agreste. The morning after she gave Gammy the sweater, he requested a meeting in his suite. Naturally, she brought Adrien along, considering the designer terrified her to no end. But the meeting turned out to be quite insightful. Gabriel mentioned Adrien passing on her designs — something she hadn't quite forgiven him for yet — and he wanted to discuss her future. He inquired about her work for Mary and asked if she had considered joining the design team. When she explained that there was no room for advancement at House of Humphries beyond second assistant, Gabriel just happened to have a contract for a position within his team.

She had thanked him gracefully but mentioned that she needed to think about it (and discuss it with Adrien) — if anyone knew about working for Gabriel, it would be the son of the founder. As always, Adrien had been honest but not forceful in telling her what to do.

Would it advance her career? Certainly.

Was Gabriel challenging to work for? God, yes!

Would she regret it? It was a possibility down the line.

Gabriel had given her a month to mull it over, and it was weighing heavily on her mind.

"Don't you think Adrien would look great in a tuxedo, Marinette? Maybe surrounded by flowers and holding a ri—"

Sabine interjected by sitting beside her husband, shoving a croissant rather aggressively into his mouth and cutting him off. "Would either of you like another drink? Tea, or wine?"

Marinette glanced at Adrien, his smile just as knowing as hers. The journey back from the villa had been filled with laughter as they'd recalled the amusing scenarios they'd encountered at each event. She couldn't help but ponder what might unfold during Félix and Kagami's wedding weekend. Meanwhile, Adrien entertained thoughts of potentially 'misplacing' the rings or raising eyebrows by injecting some risqué anecdotes about Félix into his best man speech — maybe even jokingly claiming responsibility for Félix's black eye. He was certain Kagami's mother would be after him with her samurai sword.